Four-Down Duel: Titan Killer?

Kevin has worked for Rotowire just under a decade and has covered basketball, baseball and football. A glutton for punishment, he roots for his hometown Bills, Sabres and the New York Yankees. He hosts the RotoWire SiriusXM show every Wednesday and Friday and you can follow him on Twitter @KCPayne26.

Ryan Tannehill, MIA, $6200 – Tannehill is coming off one of the better games of his young career, finishing with 290 passing yards and a touchdown. This week he’ll get the Tennessee Titans at home who are giving up just under 35 points per game (last in the NFL). Tannehill has shown improvement as the season has gone on and hasn’t thrown a pick in his last four games. What makes him even more attractive this week is that he’s at least $1000 cheaper than other quarterbacks like Philip Rivers, Matt Schaub and Andy Dalton.

Running Backs

Vick Ballard, IND, $5300 – Ballard is an intriguing play this week provided the Colts are cautious with Donald Brown and sit him out while he deals with his knee injury. After Brown departed from the game early last week, Ballard handled the majority of the workload for Indianapolis, finishing the day with 19 touches for 98 yards. While it’s a short week, the Jaguars are 25th in the league in rushing defense making this a solid matchup for Ballard and the Colts.

Marcel Reece, OAK, $5900 – After both Mike Goodson and Darren McFadden suffered ankle injuries and left last Sunday’s game, Reece filled in nicely for the two and finished with eight catches for 95 yards and a touchdown (19 points). While Goodson and DMC haven’t been ruled out as of yet, it appears likely that both will miss this week’s tilt against the Ravens. Since FanDuel operates as a .5 PPR format, Reece has some extra value given his pass-catching ability. Monitor the situation leading up to Sunday to see if Reece gets his first start of the season.

Wide Receivers

Emmanuel Sanders, PIT, $4500 – A high ankle sprain should keep Antonio Brown out of Monday night’s contest and open the door for Sanders to play a more prominent role in the Pittsburgh offense. The Steelers have an excellent matchup going against Kansas City, as the Chiefs’ 8.9 yards per passing attempt mark against is the worst in the league. Throw in that Sanders is as cheap as they come and he’s a great play this week to work in with your studs.

Laurent Robinson, JAC, $4800 – Robinson returned Sunday after dealing with concussion issues over the last few weeks and finished with a modest line of six catches for 41 yards. A closer look shows some positives for Robinson moving forward, provided the concussion issues don’t pop up again. Blaine Gabbert targeted him a team-high nine times during the game, three of those coming in the red zone. While Cecil Shorts filled in nicely, it was Robinson who landed the big contract during the offseason, so the Jaguars will likely utilize their investment, especially since they’ll be playing from behind a lot.

Tight End

Dwayne Allen, IND, $4800 – Allen’s value got a spike last week with the news that teammate Coby Fleener will miss a few weeks due to a shoulder injury. Allen was targeted a season-high seven times Sunday, turning those targets into six catches for 75 yards. With T.Y. Hilton and Reggie Wayne attracting a lot of attention downfield and towards the sidelines, Allen should have plenty of room to work over the middle.

Brandon Myers, $5500 – Myers turned in one of the better tight end performances in Week 9, finishing with eight catches for 59 yards while scoring the first two touchdowns of his career. Myers was targeted 13 times in the Raiders’ loss marking the second time in the last three games he’s gotten double-digit looks. His price hasn’t risen too high and considering the Raiders defense isn’t very good, Carson Palmer should be throwing a lot the rest of the season.

Defense

Chicago, $5900 – I usually don’t recommend the highest priced commodity at a particular position, but the Bears are an exception. It seems almost every game they get a pick-six or make something happen on special teams. While most defenses are in the $5000-$5200 range, it’s worth it in every format to spend the extra money and blindly play the Bears week in and week out regardless of the matchup.